Homecoming
by LovelyPenguin1901
Summary: Set five years after the finale. Jackie hasn't seen Hyde since that night, now a special event calls Jackie home. What will happen when they see each other for the first time in years?


**Disclaimer: If I owned anything of "That 70's Show", I wouldn't be sitting on my parents couch. But since I am currently sitting on my parents couch, I don't own it.**

**Homecoming**

**Prelude.**

"Good morning everyone, I'm Jackie Burkhart and this is 'L.A. in the A.M.'. We start off this beautiful day with a in-depth look at California's rising tourism for 1985. Let's head out to Mike Chester, who is on location…" Jackie heard herself drifting on with the words off the teleprompter, but didn't pay them any attention. She could have been reporting that Arizona had beautiful beach property available, or that penguin's actually do live at the North Pole, she wouldn't have comprehended a word of it. It was all too easy to distance herself from the present as her mind was busy contemplating her upcoming trip back home to Point Place, Wisconsin.

It had been five years since she hopped a bus at 3 in the morning on New Year's day to escape her life. After the fateful party when she realized she didn't actually love Fez as she thought she had, she did love him, but only as a dear friend, she ran home and packed whatever she could grabbed quickly and high tailed it to the bus station. She knew who truly held her heart, she also knew that he had already let her go. As soon as she looked at him across the room from her and felt her heart ache with longing, she knew she had to get as far away from him as she could afford to. Thankfully, she had put some money away in preparation for a rainy day. That particular day had definitely qualified in her mind as an emergency.

Her relationship with Steven had never been easy. They were constantly fighting, and he did cheat on her (she had forgiven him for that, but she would always carry the hurt around with her). Beneath all of the bickering and break-ups, there was always this amazing and pure love they held for each other. Nothing she had experienced since had ever come close to comparing with those feelings, and she feared nothing ever would.

Finally, it was 5 o'clock and she was all done at the station for the day. Today had been her last day before her "vacation" would begin. After she headed home and grabbed her luggage and reviewed her instructions with the house sitter, she would be on her way to the airport to catch her 8 P.M. flight to the Middleton Municipal Airport. From there she would rent a car and drive to Point Place. It all sounded so simple when she went over it in her head, but she knew the entire flight she would be worried about seeing Steven Hyde for the first time in five years. She tried to pretend it didn't matter one bit to her, but she was a nervous wreck.

Even her usually aloof producer noticed it at lunch time, "Jackie are you feeling alright?"

"Of course Harry, why would think anything was wrong?", she answered stirring her midday coffee.

"Because you just put creamer in your Diet Coke."

"Damn it! I guess I am a little distracted today. I'll be fine though, don't worry about me," she flashed him the best fake smile she could muster. Harry just looked at her with a slightly worried, slightly curious expression on his face and turned and walked away.

Jackie preceded to toss the ruined Diet Coke in the trash and made her way back to her desk to shuffle through her papers once again, knowing she had no more work to do before her trip. Jackie Burkhart always completed assignments before their due dates, it was her long held habit. In her mind, being prepared meant there was less of a chance for everything to go wrong. She could easily console herself with organization when she felt everything was up in the air.

Now here she was sitting in an uncomfortable Pan Am airplane seat awaiting the moment the wheels touched down to signify her return home after years of running away from anything that reminded her of her lost and broken relationship. The trip out to Wisconsin had been almost exactly as she had feared it would be. The moment she boarded the plane she was bombarded with thoughts of Steven and the pain that always accompanied those memories. Her resolve faltered a bit and she almost turned right around and ran off the plane, but she took a deep breath and steady herself and continued her path down the aisle. Surprisingly, when the pilot made an announcement stating that they would be arriving at their destination within the next half hour, Jackie's thoughts took a turn from devastating heart-ache to a slow creeping excitement to see everyone from her past.

**Thank you so much for reading and please review if the mood strikes ya!**


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